The Power of Four: Resurrection
by x-Spikey-x
Summary: When Cole suggests to Piper and Phoebe about perfoming a Resurrection Ritual on Prue, All Hell Breaks Loose, again!


The Power of Four

Author's Note: This fiction is set just after Prue has died and Shax was vanquished. It is roughly episode 4.8 "Black As Cole"

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed; although I would like to. But we can all dream sigh. I do not gain any funds or other such things from writing this fiction. The only thing I will get from this fic is satisfaction and (hopefully hint, hint ) some reviews.

* * *

Chapter One: Vulnerability

At South Bay Social Services in San Francisco, Paige Matthews was at her desk procrastinating about the work she was to do. Instead she ate a Chinese take-out and searched for information about wiccans online. This was to no avail. She simply couldn't find the answers she was looking for. The only thing she couldn't understand was: why she couldn't use her powers for personal gain?

Jack and Carol (two adults accused of abusing their child) walked out of Mr. Cowan's office. Paige saw them from the corner of her eye. She lifted her head up and looked at the couple. Jack's eyes met with hers. Paige, still feeling guilty from nearly pulling the man's heart out of his body, broke the eye contact and began to look as if she was actually doing work. She quickly began scrounging through a bunch of plain paper. This, shockingly, was not her work but her magic work.

Paige saw her boss, Mr. Cowan, close his office door and talk on the phone through the patterned glass. Seeing the opportune moment she quickly folded up her wiccan notes and shoved them into her already overflowing handbag. She wiped her partially greasy hands on some tissues and threw them (along with the rest of the take-away) into a nearby bin. She stood up and left her desk. She looked back to it thinking: _My desk sure needs a personality_. She was tempted to go shopping for accessories to decorate it. She overpowered the temptation and decided to head home early.

* * *

Cole shimmered into the Foyer of the Halliwell Manor. He was rather shocked to see his beloved witch and her sister to be in the Living Room. What was more surprising was that they were both eating junk food and watching television. This is something they _never_ did. They were clearly depressed. Who wouldn't be after losing their elder sister to a demonic hit man; then being told (by their dead mother) that they have another sister whom they never knew about?

All of the Charmed sisters were having a rough time. But Paige seemed to be taking in the whole 'we're all witches' thing rather well. Better than anticipated, as a matter of fact. Cole walked into the Living room and sat next to his beloved super witch, Phoebe Halliwell. Phoebe was apparently in charge of the television remote. She flicked over from one channel to the next until she stopped on a programme about recent deaths in the area.

The announcer began to role off random names and reasons for the deaths. He said the words "Prue Halliwell" and both sisters were set off. Phoebe began to sob quietly; Piper, on the other hand, started with tears of rage. She looked at the screen and automatically flicked her outraged hands at it. Within milliseconds the piece of electric equipment became a useless pile of glass and wires in a box.

Cole stood up and brought Phoebe into a comforting hug. He broke the hug and looked down at Piper. Her eyes were red and tears stained her cheeks. His lover was not at all different. Cole had a thought. This thought could be a gift or a curse but it was the only way to see both Charmed Ones happy again.

"I have an idea. It defies all the laws of magic, though," Cole reluctantly said. Piper seemed to be slightly intrigued and lifted her head up to face Cole. "You could perform a Resurrection Ritual."

Piper looked up thinking hard for a minute. She pursed her lips and said: "Let's do it," she said, nodding. She put her bowl of nachos to one side and stood up and wiping away her tears. "They owe us one," she said motioning her head upwards. "Big time."

Leo orbed into the room opposite Piper. He sort of gave a confused smile when he saw a huge bowl of nachos and other assortments of junk food next to Piper. "Having a feast?" he chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere of the room.

"Not anymore," Piper said without a slight bit of personality in her voice. She grabbed the remote control from the sofa Phoebe was lounging on and placed it on the remains of the television itself. Leo looked at her puzzlingly but only received a stare of burning emotion from his wife. Piper turned to Cole and asked: "O.K., Cole, what does this ritual involve?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. But I have heard my former colleagues talking about it. You'll need: The Power of Three, blood in a representation of the Charmed Ones, holy water that is blessed with the healing touch, a spell and a barrier blocking out evil. The one you used back in Virginia would be a good choice." Cole simply replied.

Phoebe was quiet. Almost, it seemed, too quiet. She was lost in a deep thought about her recently deceased sister, Prue. Thoughts and ideas raced through her mind. They went as quickly as they had came. _Could it actually work_? Phoebe said in her brain. She looked at Piper and declared: "I'm in."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. What ritual?" Leo said, looking confused. He looked at Piper but found only desire in her face. He looked at Phoebe and found the same look in her features. "...What's goin' on?"

"We've had enough of being screwed around, Leo. The ritual is to bring back our sister," Piper said. "So I don't have to be Piper Halliwell, eldest sister anymore; I don't have to deal with something that shouldn't have happened." Piper had just that minute realised something. Again, she turned towards her sister's love. "How did you know about the barrier and about us in Colonial Virginia?"

Cole paused for a second. He didn't quite know how to answer this. "Yeah, I did fail to mention that, didn't I?" Cole scratched the back of his head. "…The Triad sent me back in time to destroy your entire line. I helped Ruth empower the talismans and keep Charlotte captive. But thanks to your sister," he put an arm around Phoebe, "I was overcome with her love for me."

Piper was awestruck, "You nearly wiped out our entire line? … Never mind. This later, ritual now!"

Phoebe smiled at Cole, "What is the barrier for?" she asked. A very good question. What's the worst that could happen?

"The barrier is to make sure that you don't resurrect any evil that may be near by. You wouldn't want anything to possess her, would you?" Cole answered. He sure did know a lot about magic.

"What?" Leo said, taken aback. "You're planning on a Resurrection Ritual? Have you lost your mind? Do you know how risky it is? No one has ever managed to completely do one with no side effects. And besides, you never know what you're raising from the dead! Neither side had been able to do it successfully!" Leo took a minute to cool down. He looked into Piper's eyes and saw a burning determination. Her mind was made up. Nothing could stop her now. "...I'll go get the water," he sighed, orbing out.

Piper smiled happily when Leo orbed out, "Ah that husband of mine, he's such an angel," she joked. "Phoebe, you get the spell; I'll get the sister," she smiled, dialling the bay social services. Phoebe dragged Cole up with her to the attic to write the spell. "Um, hello," Piper began, "Is Paige Matthews there, please? She left early? Argh, never mind. Do you have her cell phone number? This is her sister, Piper." Piper wrote the cell phone number into the phone book they kept. "Thanks, bye." She then dialled Paige's number only to here her sister rambling in fear. "Paige, calm down! What's the matter?"

* * *

Paige rummaged through her handbag looking for the keys to her apartment. Eventually she found them and inserted them into the lock on the apartment door. She opened the door and walked inside. The room was dark and somewhat creepy. Paige flicked on the lights and closed the door. As she closed the door, a figure materialized in a burst of dark blue smoke. The figure, a man with light brown hair; clad all in black and an expression tinged with evil, held out his hands and a crossbow materialized in the same smoke. The figure, also known as a Dark-Lighter, pulled a crossbow arrow from his pants pocket and placed it on the crossbow. He pulled it back on the string. As he did this, there was a _click_ that caught Paige's attention.

Paige turned around and saw the man behind her. He grinned and fired the arrow at her. She gave a small scream and (unintentionally) orbed in the same spot. While orbing the arrow went through her and stuck into the apartment wall. "Crossbow!" Paige called out. The crossbow became a ball of white lights and travelled to Paige's outstretched hands. "Aha!" she exclaimed and pulled the trigger of the crossbow. Nothing happened. She then realised that there was no arrow to fire. Again, the Dark-Lighter grinned. He motioned for the crossbow with his hand and it flew out of Paige's grasp. "Well, that was useless," she said, hopelessly.

The man _click_ed in another arrow and was about to fire. But before he could, Paige had already shouted "Vase!" and it had orbed into her hands. The Witch/White-Lighter threw the vase at the villain. It smashed on impact with his head sending him backwards and pulling the trigger. The arrow was fired and barely missed Paige's forehead. It stuck into the ceiling not far behind her. The man stood up and prepared to fire again. Paige ran behind the sofa, hoping that it would provide some sort of protection. She was wrong. The figure fired an arrow at the couch and went straight through, grazing the back of Paige's left hand. She let out a curse and stood up.

She made sure that there was an arrow in the crossbow before calling for it. She held out her hands and waited for it to orb to her. Paige fired it at her adversary but as she did, he burst into blue smoke and reappeared once the arrow had hit the wall. "Dammit!" she exclaimed. She threw the crossbow at her attacker and hid behind the sofa. The man fired two more arrows at the sofa. One missed Paige a mile off while the other was inches away from her face.

The Dark-Lighter looked in his pocket and saw two more arrows. He placed the second-to-last one on his crossbow and slyly said: "Hmm… the last one." Paige, thinking this would be the last chance to vanquish him, stood up and was ready to call for his crossbow again. The Dark-Lighter fired his arrow and missed Paige's side by a single centimetre. Instantly she sank back down and thought about how to get out of this mess.

Then it hit her. "Arrow!" she exclaimed in a whisper and watched as the arrow (that had just barely missed her) became a ball of white lights and appeared in her hand. Paige felt a slight sting in her hand. She held it by the feathers just incase she cut herself. She stood up and threw the weapon at her assailant. But what she didn't count on was the fact that he still had another arrow. He fired it. The two arrows passed each other in mid air. Both arrows hit their targets. Paige's arrow hit the Dark-Lighter in his left shoulder, while his arrow hit Paige in her right shoulder.

Both of them were knocked backwards. The Dark-Lighter was thrown onto the floor and Paige sank downwards behind the sofa. "Leo!" she whimpered not as loudly as had hoped. Her cell phone rang. Paige slowly went into her handbag and found her phone though all the papers and make-up products.

"Hello?" she said slowly. "Piper! Oh, thank God it's you. There's-this-creep-in-the-apartment-trying-to-kill-me. I-don't-know-if-he's-a-demon. But-he-attacked-me-with-a-crossbow. The-arrow's-in my-shoulder…hurts-like-hell…to-be-honest…" Paige fainted, closing her eyes and dropping the phone on the floor with a _thump_. The last thing she thought was dreading that the man who was trying to kill her, was going to succeed.


End file.
